23rd August 2019 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A few weeks ago we reported on the news that the most influential jobs in the country are disproportionally occupied by people who went to fee-paying schools and Oxbridge graduates. Of course this asked important questions about social mobility, but as a company which has so much contact with tutors who attended the two best universities in the country, we felt that the report overlooked a very important point.
A lot of Oxbridge graduates will say that they’re sometimes reticent to say which university they attended. Although proud, they also don’t want to appear as though they’re bragging, and end up saying it almost under their breath. Despite this, when pushed, the same graduates will tell you how valuable they think their education was, and how much they learnt.
Who do we want in the top jobs? One criterion has to be intelligence. It makes no sense for us to determine that someone is a very intelligent knowledgable person, a result of which meant they won their preferred university place, but then to penalise their job opportunities.
A huge part of our recruitment process is based on the idea that Oxbridge graduates have a huge advantage over others when it comes to tuition; they have proved that they are the best people in the country at the exams our students are so desperate to pass. However, it’s not all we look for when hiring a new tutor.
The worry with recruiting from a demographic which seems fairly pre-determined is that it’s not a fair representation of the country’s views. This isn’t such a problem with tutors because they operate as individuals and don’t steer the direction of Blue Tutors. The trouble with our most important jobs is that we would like the positions to reflect the make up of our country and do “the right thing” for the population as a whole.
It is difficult to assess whether someone’s motives and ethics are suited for an important job, particularly when the recruiter is mainly concerned with the ability to do the job. We shouldn’t lose this, and rather than campaign for Oxbridge graduates not to occupy so many important positions, maybe it would be better to put a real effort into increasing access to quality education for many more students from an early age.